Sucker's Bet
by EosAphrodite
Summary: Gil loses his cool and Nicky loses a bet. GCR of course!! This is for Em and the Nightshift.


Catherine was in the locker room changing clothes after the shift. Last night and today was tough. It was a lot tougher on her than she would admit to anyone. Oh, sure she told Warrick she'd been scared, but she didn't let on that she had been terrified. Identifying the suspect had her stomach in knots and her body tense, but she did it. She'd told him it was because if she hadn't, she would have been afraid of the next one and the next. But the truth was, it was because she didn't want anyone to think she was weak. So Catherine had put on her 'game face' and identified the creep.  
  
She stared at the cut on her forehead and sighed. "All for a stupid video game." She pulled her hair out of its ponytail and brushed it; trying to hide the cut. 'I shouldn't have let my bangs grow out,' she thought ruefully. There'd be no hiding it this time. Catherine threw the brush back into her locker and slammed the door, trying to ease some of the tension within her.  
  
She turned around and started when she saw Gil Grissom just a few feet away. She cursed herself for her momentary fear. There was a time when the only thing she feared was going home, but not that she was going to admit that; ever.  
  
Her irritation at herself as well as the way he just stood there looking at her came through in her voice and she snapped, "What?"  
  
"You okay?"  
  
"I'm fine, thank you." She tried to keep things light, impersonal.  
  
"Catherine, as your supervisor, I should have been notified."  
  
"You were, the report's on your desk," was her flippant reply.  
  
Grissom continued as if she hadn't spoken. "As your friend, you should have called me."  
  
Catherine was so tired of this game. Suddenly she was angry. She didn't want his pity; she didn't want anyone's pity. "Why? So I could get one of your Grissom-isms? Thanks, but I don't need it, I'm fine. I got the job done."  
  
"You shouldn't have had to go through that by yourself." Gil's anger and his fear for her made his voice rough.  
  
"I wasn't alone, Warrick was there," she shot back, her voice rising.  
  
"If he'd been there, you wouldn't have been hurt!"  
  
Now Catherine was infuriated. How dare he insinuate this had been Warrick's fault? "It wasn't his fault Grissom!" She drew his name out. "I was the one who sent the cop outside. I didn't want his puke adding to the mess. So sorry I didn't get your permission in writing beforehand." She moved to walk past him, but his hand shot out and grabbed her arm, effectively stopping her.  
  
"Don't you walk away from me, we're not finished."  
  
Her eyes widening in shock, Catherine looked from her arm to his face. Wrenching her arm from his grasp, she stepped forward until her face was inches from his. "I think we are Mr. Grissom! I don't want or need your damn pity! Give it to someone who wants it!"  
  
Gil watched her eyes darken with anger and thought he'd never seen her look more beautiful. His eyes crinkled and his lips smirked into a small smile, which only infuriated Catherine further.  
  
"What the fuck are you smiling about?"  
  
Outside the locker room Nick Stokes and Warrick Brown were standing unashamedly listening to the two senior CSI's. They couldn't hear everything, but the anger in Catherine's voice as well as Gil's was obvious.  
  
"Fifty bucks says he plants one on her," Warrick grinned evilly.  
  
"Plants what?" At Warrick's pointed look, he continued in a disbelieving voice, "A kiss? No way bro, I say she decks him."  
  
Warrick shook his head. "Nope, I say this is what pulls Gris' head out of his ass." He'd noticed the tension between them from the moment he'd started working with them. He extended his hand to Nick. "What do you say? Bet on it?"  
  
Shaking his head, Nick shook Warrick's hand and said with a smile, "You're on!" He was thinking that this was going to be the easiest $50 dollars he'd ever earned.  
  
They both turned back to the door, crowding closer to listen.  
  
Inside the locker room, Catherine was gearing up to rip Gil a new one. "Don't you dare laugh at me Gil Grissom!" There was a look in Gil's eyes, one she hadn't seen before. It looked almost like desire, but that was impossible. He didn't have those kinds of feelings for her. She took a deep breath to continue to yell, but was stopped by his mouth on hers.  
  
Instantly the anger coursing through her was replaced by desire, hot and swift. She answered his kiss, opening her mouth to grant his tongue access. A groan came from low in her throat. He answered with one of his own, his hands running over her back and under her shirt. His desire deepened when he felt the soft skin under his fingers. Too caught up in the kiss and their mutual desire, neither one noticed the door to the locker room open and Warrick poke his head in.  
  
Warrick took a quick look and backed out, looking at Nick with a big grin on his face. "You owe me fifty buddy."  
  
"No way!" came Nick's shocked voice.  
  
Quietly pushing the door open with one hand he said in a whisper, "Take a look for yourself if you don't believe me."  
  
Nick looked inside and saw Catherine and Gil locked in a passionate embrace. He turned back to Warrick, who let the door shut quietly. "Man, I never would have thought it." He walked away, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. He handed over a fifty to Warrick, who took it happily.  
  
"That's like catching your parents. I've been victimized." He shook his head as if trying to erase the image.  
  
Warrick just laughed. "What do you think? Another fifty says she comes in tonight with that special 'glow' about her?" He was clearly enjoying Nick's discomfort.  
  
"Now that's sick. Just for that, you owe me a drink." 


End file.
